Too Much
by Mendys
Summary: What happened after Bill walked away from Laura in Eye of Jupiter? How much is too much to bear? Spoilers up to EoJ, goes AU after that....
1. Chapter 1

"Uh, Tory?"

Tory Foster looked up from the paperwork she had been going over to see Jack Reynolds watching her with a perturbed look on his face. Cocking an eyebrow, she set the papers down and stood up. Jack rarely looked anything but unflappable, a good quality for the President's head of security to have. Seeing his face now concerned her, even more than the President's odd behavior of late had been.

"What's going on?" she asked, stifling a yawn. It was past time for her to go to bed and judging from Jack's expression, she probably should have.

"There's a shuttle outside waiting to dock. It's Admiral Adama." Jack remarked, looking past her to the President's sleeping area. "What should I do?"

Tory shrugged. There went any chance of her getting to bed when it was still a decent hour. "Let him onboard. He's the admiral of the fleet."

Jack wasn't all that convinced. "Have you seen the two of them together lately? A New Caprican breeze would warm the temperature between the two of them. What happened between the two of them anyway?" He, like many others who had opportunity to observe the interactions between Admiral Adama and President Roslin, had been speculating on what could possibly have caused this level of breakdown in their relationship.

"It's not just him she's freezing out." Tory pointed out quietly. "It's everyone. I can't even remember the last time I saw her crack a smile."

"Yeah, well, I can't remember the last time I saw them in a room together and act like they were in the same room together." Jack remarked. "You think she's still pissed at him for trying to nuke the algae planet?"

"Whatever it is, the Vice-President knows about it." Tory replied. "But he's not talking, and that leads me to believe it was something a little more serious than that. It's almost like the President's lost most of her feelings. She's more hardcore than Colonel Tigh is."

"Don't remind me." Jack rolled his eyes. He had noticed that as well. The President had once made a regular practice of conversing with him throughout the day, and did the same thing with nearly everyone else who crossed her path. She honestly cared about the people she was interacting with, a rarity when you were dealing with politicians. But now, there was nothing. No small talk, no reaching out to touch people, no smiles or little laughs that showed she was in a good mood, no matter how frakked up the day was shaping up to be. It was almost as if a part of her had just vanished. "I'm gonna go meet the admiral when he docks."

"Make sure you remind him most people are sleeping right now." Tory advised. "If he wants another shouting match, tell him to go back to Galactica and call her on the wireless."

"The Vice-President knows, you said?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Jack's lips curled into a leering smirk. "And you weren't able to seduce it out of him? Shame, Tory, shame."

"Shut up, Reynolds." Tory threw a paperclip at him.

Chuckling, he started for the door only to stop in his tracks as Admiral Adama walked through that same door, a grim expression on his face. Jack nearly groaned and Tory took a step back. The infamous Adama Glare was out in full force and they had not been warned to hide under the nearest desk.

Tory recovered her nerve first and stepped forward. "Good evening, Admiral."

"Tory." Adama nodded at her, then to Jack.

"Admiral." Jack inclined his head.

"Is the President awake?" Adama asked, and Tory got the distinct expression that it wouldn't matter what the answer was. He was going in to see her whether she was awake, or wanted to see him, or not.

"Probably." she replied, reaching for the phone. 

Adama held his hand up to stop her. "No need. I'll go right in."

Before either of them could protest, Adama had already disappeared through the curtain dividing the President's office from her personal space.

"She's gonna be pissed." Jack warned Tory, who could only nod in amusement. 

William Adama was a patient man. He had to be, considering his position. But enough was enough. He had grown tired of this cat and mouse game that the President had been playing with him. She had sequestered herself on her ship for the better part of the last month since what he had come to know as the Hera incident. He paused and reconsidered his thoughts as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Maybe "sequestered on her ship" wasn't the right phrase. She just hadn't set foot on Galactica since the day he had confronted her over what she had done.

At first he thought it was her conscience rearing its ugly head, but as the weeks went on and their business was conducted through phone calls, he got the feeling that she was somehow different. He had once been able to read Laura Roslin like a book, even over the wireless, when the only contact he had was the sound of her voice. Her voice had told him everything he needed to know, from what kind of mood she was in to how she was feeling and even if she had gotten enough sleep the night before. Hell, he had even managed to hear his way through a bluff on one memorable occasion when he had point blank asked her if she had had breakfast that morning!

Now there was nothing. Her voice betrayed nothing of what Laura was thinking or feeling or doing. It betrayed nothing of Laura. And he hadn't even noticed until Saul had pointed it out to him.

The XO had been unusually taciturn in his approach, explaining that he had been conducting some of the fleet's business with the President personally and she had been concerning him to the point where he thought she might be ill again.

Bill's heart had nearly stopped beating at the possibility. Could she be sick again? Was that why she had all but ended communications between them that didn't directly involve the welfare of the fleet? He had spent the past week scheduling meetings with her, only to be forced to either reschedule or deal with an unusually closemouthed Tom Zarek.

The cancelled meeting tonight had been the last straw. Making a hasty decision to shuttle over to Colonial One unannounced, he hadn't permitted himself to consider his actions until now, when he was on the verge of waking the President up from her sleep.

His assumption proved to be erroneous as he looked over at the small cot she had managed to bring back from New Caprica and found that it was empty.

"Laura?" he called softly, seeing the light on in her small bathroom.

"Who's there?" There it was again. The hard edge he was unaccustomed to hearing in her voice. The snappish tone that underlied no real annoyance, just a general lack of patience. A general lack of caring.

Disturbed by his thoughts, he called back, "If you don't recognize my voice, we're in some trouble."

The door to the bathroom opened and Laura stepped out, tying her bathrobe around her securely. She stared at him, meeting his eyes unflinchingly. "What are you doing here?" 

"I got sick of the runaround you've been giving me." he replied. "Mind if I turn a light on?"

"Don't bother. You won't be staying very long." she snapped, sweeping past him to lay her clothes out on her desk. "There's a good reason I cancelled our meeting, Admiral."

"And if you had informed me as to the reason, I wouldn't be here right now." Bill replied testily. Something was definitely off. She had left the shower running, he could hear it. Normally she was anal about conservation.

"My reasons are hardly any of your concern." she retorted, every bit as frosty as he was. "If you'll excuse me, Admiral, I have an early day tomorrow."

"I see." Bill said slowly, realizing that he was speaking to her back. "I'd like to reschedule our meeting. There are some security issues we need to discuss."

"Send the reports over and I'll coordinate with Colonel Tigh on how best to implement your recommendations." Laura replied, wrapping a towel around her head. "If that's all-" she gave him a look that probably would have frozen a lesser man solid.

He realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this infuriating woman tonight. Tomorrow, when she was on his turf, he'd find out what the hell was wrong with her. What was it they used to say about home field advantage? 

"For now." he replied. "Good night, Laura." 

She turned on her heel and walked back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. He grew even more mystified as he heard the unmistakable click of a lock sliding into place. Who the hell was she locking out?

Shaking his head, Adama ignored the little voice inside that was practically screaming there was something very wrong here and left the President's personal area, where Jack and Tory were deep in discussion.

"No, I'm telling you, the picture just got knocked off the desk and before I could catch it, it hit the ground. The frame was totaled and I haven't been able to find a new one." Tory was telling Jack, who was shaking his head. "I thought she'd go ballistic, but she barely even looked at it before handing the picture to me and walking away."

"What picture?"

Both the aide and the head of security looked up guiltily, having been caught talking about their boss in front of someone who was slowly turning into an outsider again.

"The picture of her and Billy." Tory briefly lowered her eyes out of respect for Billy. Sometimes she still missed that kid. He would have known what to do to bring the president out of her apathetic funk.

"You broke the frame and she didn't break your fingers?" Bill exclaimed, his eyebrows rising.

"Didn't even blink." Tory replied. "Did you have a chance to speak with her?"

"See to it that she's on the shuttle to Galactica in the morning." Bill said. Before Tory could bristle at being ordered around like she had joined the Colonial Fleet, he went on to add, "There are a number of issues that have been piling up and I'd like to have them all resolved tomorrow."

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

_"Madam President, I can't tell you how good it is to see you right now." _

Tory had been waiting impatiently at the shuttle bay of Colonial One ever since the Galactica had jumped in, joining the rest of the fleet that had left them behind nearly a week ago. The Vice-President had joined her only a few moments ago, having been told by one of his own aides that President Roslin and her security were arriving. Zarek had done an admirable job of keeping things together throughout the past week. As the other ships had begun to worry, Zarek had been a calm voice in the middle of everything, making twice-daily reports to the press to assuage rising anxieties. He had mentioned everything from the list of jump coordinates Galactica had provided them with to the fact that Admiral Adama had, after all, told them in a fleet-wide address that it might take a few days before the Galactica would be able to rejoin them.

As a result, the fleet wasn't nearly as panicked as it could have been, though there was profound relief greeting the return of Galactica.

"It's good to be back, thank you, Tory." The President offered her a wan smile, then turned to Zarek. "I trust all ships are still present and accounted for, Mister Vice-President?"

"Yes, ma'am." Zarek replied, smiling at her. "If you don't need me, I think I'll catch a ride back to the Astral Queen with that Raptor."

"Actually, I do need to speak with you immediately. Tory, would you give us a few minutes? Jack, why don't you go get some rest? You look pretty much exhausted. The Vice-President and I won't be long."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Jack replied, though Tory was puzzled by the worried glance he shot at her. She looked back at the President, who was staring off at nothing and chewing on her lip. "I'll just see the Galactica pilots off then."

"Thank you." The President then turned to Tory and tried to smile. "I'll need to speak to you for a few minutes once I'm finished with him," gesturing to Zarek, who had crossed the bay to the door to wait for her.

"Is anything wrong?" Tory asked. She wasn't one to beat around the bush and she could see that something wasn't quite right with the President. Something about her eyes, Tory couldn't quite place it. Nor did she know exactly what, but there was something missing. Something vital that made Laura Roslin who she was.

"No." Not even Laura looked convinced by her response to Tory's question. "Shall we, Tom?"

The use of his given name gave Tom pause and he turned back to look sharply at her, coming towards him. "Lead the way, Laura." 

"I suppose the first thing I should tell you," Laura remarked as she placed a glass of water in front of Tom, "is that you'll probably be having a number of sleepless nights for the next few weeks. I apologize for that, but I don't think it can be helped."

"What's going on?" Tom asked as she sat across from him at her desk, pouring herself a glass of water. He took a few gulps as she collected her thoughts.

A mistake, it turned out, as her next statement caused a spew of water to stream straight out of his mouth and all over the paperwork on the desk.

"Excuse me?!" he sputtered, jumping out of his chair. "You're resigning? What the hell is wrong with you, Laura?"

"Sit down, Tom." she directed, barely glancing at him over her glasses as she set about mopping up the water from the desks. "It'll hardly be amusing to anyone to watch the President of the Colonies arrested for kidnapping and led away in handcuffs. I think everyone remembers what happened the last time Admiral Adama sent marines over to my ship. At least if I'm no longer President, there won't be such an uproar in the fleet." 

"You've lost me, Madam President." Tom sank into his chair slowly. What the frak had gone on in the past week?

"Do you remember last year, well before the elections, the Cylon pregnancy?" Laura asked. At his mute nod, she continued, "Lieutenant Valerii… Agathon, actually… gave birth to a half-human, half-Cylon baby girl. I suppose you also remember that the child saved my life."

"What does a dead baby have to do with you resigning?" Tom asked. He didn't mean to sound callous, but he was already nursing a pounding headache and he just wanted to get the story so he could start talking her out of this ridiculous course of action.

"The baby isn't dead. She's actually onboard Galactica right now with her parents." A small smile appeared on Laura's face and disappeared a mere breath later. When she spoke again, there was a hard edge to her voice. "I ordered Major Cottle to fake the child's death and Tory and I arranged a closed adoption. All of this was obviously done without Admiral Adama's knowledge or consent."

"Why not just have the baby killed outright?" Tom asked curiously. As much as he hated to admit it, that seemed to him the easiest, least messy, way out of that particular bad situation. The baby would never have been permitted to remain with its mother and if current information was still reliable, Tom had many doubts as to the character of the baby's father. He wasn't one to throw stones, but he could read between the lines with the best of them.

"I would never do that to a child." Laura replied, taking a sip of her water and rested her head against the headrest of her chair. Sighing deeply, she eyed him carefully. "Not even a Cylon child, Tom. She didn't ask to be born into this mess. And she saved my life."

"If she'd been allowed to remain with her parents, there's a good chance that baby wouldn't have lived anyway." Tom said. It might be brutal, it might be cruel, it might be hard to hear, but it was also unfortunately the gods' honest truth. He could think of about forty or fifty names off the top of his head of people who would be more than willing to visit the sins of the half-breed's mother on the child. Some of them were on Galactica and could have gotten to the baby very easily. "So you hid the child to protect her?" 

"It hardly matters why I did it now, does it? I did it, and I got caught." Laura replied, and Tom cringed at the coldness in her tone. "I'm not terribly good at being a criminal, I guess."

He was so surprised he didn't even hear the snort escape his lips. Then he recalled her rueful reply to his question on New Caprica.

"Just need some practice, that's all." he remarked. "All right, so how did all this come out?"

"The woman we placed the baby with, Maya, she never returned from New Caprica. I had assumed Isis had been killed with her. But the Cylons found her alive. I don't even know if Maya was alive with her." Swallowing hard, Laura lay her hand on the table, touching the photograph of Maya. "The Cylons wouldn't have thought twice of killing her to get to the baby."

"Don't torture yourself." Tom advised. "So the Cylons got the baby. How did you find out about that?"

"The admiral told me." Laura replied.

"How did Admiral Adama find out?" 

"One of the Cylons, another Valerii copy, the one we know as the young woman who shot the admiral-"

"Wait, I thought Lieutenant Agathon was the same model as her."

"Mr. Vice-President, I would advise you to not try to understand the Cylons' concept of individuality." Laura replied testily. "It's a headache under the best of circumstances. To return to the subject at hand, Lieutenant Agathon did not know whether to believe this other copy, so she went to the admiral, who came to me with his concerns."

"And you told him what you'd done." Tom replied, though it was hardly necessary to say it aloud. Anger began to simmer in him as he realized what must have happened after that. She wasn't resigning. She was being forced from power just like it had happened before. Evidently, Admiral Adama was a slow learner.

"Yes." Laura replied. "I'll announce my decision tomorrow afternoon, once I've had a chance to tell the staff. I hope you'll consider keeping most of them on. They're all valuable people."

"I won't have to worry about keeping your people on. You're not resigning." Tom replied firmly.

An ironic smile appeared upon the President's lips as she considered the words. Tom could see the irony of the situation himself. Before New Caprica, he would have jumped at the chance at the Presidency, even while he was Vice-President of the Colonies under Baltar. The miserable megalomaniac had never taken any of his suggestions and then had him thrown in jail when the Cylons hit. But Roslin had promised him that he would have a voice as her Vice-President and she had kept her word. It had shocked the hell out of him to discover that he was more than satisfied to just be a voice, rather than THE voice, as he had once so passionately wished to be.

"There was a time when you would have had me shot if it would get you the Presidency, Tom." she said softly, lacing her fingers together on the desk.

"Times change, Madam President." Tom replied, leaning forward. "I won't let you be brought down by this. Anyone else would have killed that baby outright and probably its mother along with it. You let Adama keep her, made sure she was treated as a human being most of the time, and I will not stand by and watch Adama tear you to shreds over this." 


	3. Chapter 3

As he felt the familiar jolts accompanying a shuttle touching down upon a deck, Jack stood up, straightening the jacket he was wearing. In the early days of his employment with the President of the Colonies, he had neglected to wear anything over his polo shirts when accompanying her to the Galactica. He soon learned the folly of that decision, for the battlestar was several degrees cooler than most of the other ships in the fleet. Remembering those old days when he had actually been on his guard on the Galactica for fear one of Adama's people might try and take a shot at the President, he couldn't help but grin, shaking his head. How those times had changed.

He'd thought he would never come back from standing up to Colonel Tigh and pointing a gun in his face when the marines stormed Colonial One to arrest the President. And yet, here they all were.

His smile faded when his eyes fell upon his boss, turning a page in the report she had been looking over. He wasn't sure who had handed it to her right before they had boarded the Raptor Adama had sent over to fetch the President.

"All secure." One of the pilots brushed past him, followed by the one he recognized. Smiling jovially, he slapped Costanza on the back, receiving a cheeky grin in return for the effort.

"Madam President?" he offered her his hand. At this point in their routine, she would usually take it and once again refuse his imaginary, unspoken marriage proposal.

Her head snapped up, surprise written all over her face. "Already?" she asked, looking around.

"Yes, ma'am." He wondered how she had missed the landing. He started to assist her in gathering her papers, only to be waved off. Taken aback, he stepped back and simply decided to do his job, make sure the hangar deck was secure before he let her set foot on it.

"Hello, Reynolds."

His mood brightened again as he caught sight of the three-person greeting party assembled. He liked smaller groups anyway. He was more likely to know them all and when it was just him, he wouldn't be able to take out more than two or three people at a time anyway.

"Captain Thrace." He hopped down from the Raptor, offering her a salute. "I'm surprised you haven't managed to kill yourself yet."

"One of these days." Starbuck promised, shaking his hand. "It's been a while since we've seen you."

"Well, the President wanted to make sure she wasn't ignoring the rest of the fleet. She trusts that the Admiral has things well in hand over here on Galactica."

Oh, frak. Now he was turning into a damn politician. He eyed Thrace's sidearm and wondered if she was quick enough to stop him from putting a bullet between his own eyes. Then he wondered if she was buying his statement any more than he was. It was damned strange that he hadn't set foot on Galactica in almost four weeks. As head of security, he went where the President went. And she hadn't gone to Galactica, the only defense her fleet had against the Cylons, in a month.

Damned strange indeed, now that he thought about it.

"Well, the Old Man managed to kick my head back on straight." Starbuck replied cheerfully, then turned to the man standing beside her. "Isn't that right, Chief?"

"If you say so, Captain." Chief Tyrol replied cheerfully. "How are you, Jack?" he asked, offering a hand.

Jack was about to reply when Starbuck quickly drew herself to attention, firing off another salute. "President on deck!"

He quickly turned just in time to see his boss step out of the Raptor with her briefcase in hand. A quick, tense look around before her face settled in something slightly more relaxed than he had seen all morning. Ignoring the second offer of a hand, she stepped onto the deck carefully and saluted Starbuck.

"Welcome back to Galactica, Madam President." the best pilot in the fleet greeted her President with a sly look. "The Old Man's in CIC, asked me to come down and greet you. He wants to make sure the CAG doesn't get his ass smoked with all those nuggets out there on the other side of the ship."

"I was told Admiral Adama wanted a meeting immediately, Captain Thrace." Laura replied, and Jack was disappointed to see the tension return to her face.

Truth be told, he was starting to tense up a little bit as well. Even before the whole mess with the Cylon baby had become public knowledge, Captain Agathon had been making a general nuisance of himself. His lack of respect for the President and her position had appalled Jack, making him a very happy man when word of Colonel Tigh's resumption of his post had reached his ears. He didn't trust Agathon as far as he could throw him and now, with this added chaos, he planned on keeping one finger on his trigger if the President met up with him, or his Cylon, during this visit.

"The admiral was hoping the CAG would've been finished with the nuggets by this time, but some of them need a little extra practice." Kara replied, her grin fading somewhat as she realized the President wasn't in one of her usual bright moods. "He said you could wait in his office in CIC."

She was sorry a moment later when the President visibly paled and shook her head. "No, thank you, Captain. I wouldn't want to be in the way. Is there another place I could finish looking over Colonel Tigh's recommendations until they're ready for me?"

From the look Tyrol shot him, Jack would have bet a larger number of cubits than he had at his disposal that the thoughts running through the chief's head at the moment consisted of three words, "What the frak?" He shook his head slightly, ignoring the questioning look.

"She could use your office, couldn't she?"

It was the first thing Cally had said since Jack disembarked from the Raptor.

"What?" Tyrol asked, turning to look at his wife. "I thought you had Nicky in there."

"Nicky's fine. He slept through two jumps last week, remember?" Cally nudged him, nodding and cocking her eyebrow. "Unless you think he'll disturb you, Madam President?"

"Oh, no, of course not." Laura replied, smiling at Cally, who looked like the cat that had just found a zoo full of canaries to swallow. "I'd be more worried that I might disturb your son."

"Oh, no, he sleeps like an angel." Cally shoved past Starbuck to take the President's briefcase from her. "And Galen's been working on one of the other Raptors for the past three hours. He'll be another three, so he won't need the office unless to just run in for something. And if you need anything," she began to tug Laura gently along with her, "you can just call me. He put me on cleaning duty again." She made a face, which did earn her another smile.

Jack chuckled as he watched Cally fairly railroad over the President of the Colonies. His outlook on the day was starting to rise as he realized that in two minutes with the specialist, he'd seen the President smile more than she had smiled in the past three weeks.

"I'm sorry." Galen stumbled through the words, beet red. "I keep telling her it's not like it was on New Caprica, when she was the schoolteacher. She kept mentioning how great it would be when the baby was old enough to be the President's student."

"Chief," Jack waved away his apologies firmly, "if I wasn't fairly certain you'd kick my ass, I'd kiss your wife right now."

"Hey, Reynolds, if she has time, you think you could have her down in the pilots' briefing room sometime before she leaves today?" Starbuck asked, watching as Cally ushered the President into the office, shutting the door behind them.

"Depends on what else is on her schedule. I'll do my best, Starbuck." Jack replied as he started for the office. "Tell Sam I said hi."

"Will do." Starbuck replied.

"I can't believe Cally did that." The Chief picked up his tool belt, shaking his head. "What's the President going to think of her?"

"Uh, probably the same thing she thought of Cally on New Caprica." Starbuck shrugged. "Look, Chief, she might be President again, but that doesn't mean she reverts back to her old relationships before New Caprica. I've spoken to her a few times since the Admiral kicked my ass back into shape and she always asks about you and Cally and Nicky. She may not be able to interact with us the way she used to, but she didn't stop thinking of us as her friends."

She thought she saw a twinge of relief in the Chief's eyes before he shook his head again. "But as much as we wish it wasn't, it is different now, Captain." he remarked. "She's the President and we can't just treat her like one of us. It's a matter of respect." Clearing his throat, he gestured to his wounded Raptor. "I gotta get back, Captain. I'll see you later."

"I'll come brief you about the other thing later. Call me when the CAG finally gets his ass back on the deck." Starbuck winked at him.

"All right, listen up!" Kara shouted as she charged into the briefing room. "The CAG's about to land his ass, so we don't have much time!" She took a moment to look around the room, finally locating the face she was looking for somewhere along the back wall. "Felix, where's Dualla?"

"CIC." Gaeta called from his vantage point in the back of the room, where he was leaning against a bulkhead, right next to the door. He planned a hasty escape. "Colonel Tigh asked me to tell you he's in."

"Oh, gee, praise the Lords of Kobol for that!" Starbuck threw her hands in the air with a dramatic air. "I don't think we could ever plan a surprise party without the XO!"

"Did you talk to the President when she landed?" Racetrack called.

"Yeah, she likes Apollo!" Hotdog called.

"Oh, like we need the President to plan a party."

That came from one Karl Agathon. No one was particularly surprised. Helo had been taking every opportunity he could to badmouth the President lately. Everyone else had been giving him a wide berth, considering the circumstances, but Starbuck could sense that the tide would soon turn against him if he didn't lose the attitude. She cleared her throat to clear the sudden tension in the room.

"Madam Prez likes Lee and she likes Dualla." she said firmly. "If she wants to be involved, she's in. End of story. And if you can't keep your fat mouth shut when she's here later on, we can do this without you, Helo."

Helo's face colored. He hadn't been called out in public like this before.

"You know," he snapped angrily, "I wonder how you would feel if it was your child she stole."

"Oh, for frak's sake." Hotdog stood up, pointing at Helo. "You need to get over it, Helo. At least your daughter's alive and you have her back. How many people can actually say that these days?"

"Hey, we're here to plan a party!" Ever the peacemaker, Racetrack nonetheless shot Helo a murderous glare as she tried to steer everyone back to the subject at hand. "Are we just going to jump out and shout, 'Happy first anniversary,' or do you have a better plan?"

"Sam's in charge of that one." Starbuck replied. Who knew planning a surprise party was so much more stressful than planning a regular party? "Remember, people, stealth's the name of the game. CAG's extremely smart, so we have to be extra sneaky."

"I volunteer to amp up the briefing room antics, keep him busy trying to control me!" Hotdog suggested, which got a roar of approval from his audience.

"How'd I know that'd be your first contribution, Hotdog?" Starbuck tossed her pen at him. She then looked back at Gaeta. "Hey, Felix, we're leaving you in charge of distracting Dee, okay?"

The lieutenant brightened. "That's all I have to do?" he asked. The less he was involved, the less chance it'd come back and bite him when the brilliant plan fell apart. "Keep me in the loop as to the actual dates and times."

"I'm hoping we can actually come up with a reason to actually get the CAG's ass off the ship entirely the day of, so we can take care of all the last-minute details without trying to stay away from him." Starbuck remarked.

"Roslin could help us with that!" Racetrack shouted, shooting another death glare at Helo, who paid no attention.

"I don't see why she has to be here at all, anyway. Sharon's been through enough without having to look that bitch in the face every day." he sputtered out angrily.

A hush fell over the room as his words set in.

"That bitch, as you so respectfully call her, is the President of the Colonies, Captain." Gaeta reminded him, wishing that one of the other CIC officers were here right now to lay Helo out flat.

"And maybe now our girl Athena can understand a little bit how all the rest of us felt when y'all got back from Kobol, considering what Boomer did to the Old Man!" Hotdog added pointedly. "And oh, yeah. Her race is still chasing us and trying to kill those of us they haven't already killed."

"Sharon's not like the rest of them!" Helo shouted, standing up to face Hotdog.

"Look, we all know that!" Hotdog challenged him. "You really think I'd want Athena next to me in a Raptor or watching my ass while I'm in the cockpit if I thought she was like the rest of those toasters? But you've got to stop with this crusade against the President!"

"ENOUGH!" Starbuck slammed her hand down on the podium. "One word out of either of you and you're both going on report. Helo, you sure as hell know better than to call the President of the Colonies a bitch in front of the rest of us. She's saved all our lives more than we can count. And, Hotdog, try to keep your head in front of your damn mouth!"

Shaking his head, Helo got up and stormed out of the briefing room, leaving silence in his wake.

"Good riddance." Racetrack shifted in her seat, making herself comfortable. The CAG was about to come in and report on the new batch of nuggets. They were all looking forward to it.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

"Thank the lords that's over with."

Admiral Adama glanced sharply at the XO over the table, raising an eyebrow. Colonel Tigh made no move to elaborate on his gratitude, just looked back at the admiral, shrugging. "They need practice, is all." Bill remarked as he looked up at Gaeta, who had just relieved the other watch officer, now headed for the nearest exit. Then he turned to Dee. "All birds in?"

"Yes, sir." His daughter-in-law was busy at work, replying to whoever had been watching the action outside the ship. "One of them, I think Tiny Tot, it sounds like, she needs to head to sickbay. CAG said she burned her hands trying to make a hot landing."

"The last thing we need is another Starbuck or Hotdog out there." Tigh pointed out logically.

"I'll have Apollo keep an eye on her." Bill replied noncommittally. They had bigger problems than hotshot pilots at the moment. And he was about to walk into one of them right now. "Is the President still waiting?"

"For about an hour now." Saul replied, perking up a bit. He had been reminding the admiral every few minutes that the President had shuttled over from Colonial at the crack of dawn (or whatever the hell that meant anymore) to answer a summons the admiral had delivered personally. Saul knew that whatever greeted them when they finally met up with her wouldn't be good. At least not until it was explained that it couldn't be helped.

"I guess I should get down there." Bill rubbed his hand over his face ruefully. He honestly hadn't expected a simple pilot try-out to take this long. "Where is she?"

"She didn't leave the hangar deck." Dee replied. "The Chief called up a few minutes ago. Uh, he wanted to make it clear that the President didn't ask him to call. He just thought he'd make sure you knew where she was in case you needed to reschedule."

Bill frowned, and saw his confusion mirrored in the XO's face. Though there was a bit of something else there, as well.

"Doesn't sound like her." he remarked. "Colonel Tigh-"

"Actually, mind if I walk with you?" Saul interrupted. He'd been harboring a number of suspicions about the President and this seemed a perfect opportunity to confirm them. "I'm the one who sent those reports over, so I should be there if she has any questions." As if that was possible. He'd practically spelled everything out for her.

"Mr. Gaeta, you have the watch." Bill paused, moving out of the way so Saul could precede him from CIC.

Both men were silent for a moment as they maneuvered their way through the corridors. Neither were paying much attention, for it had become so routine they could do it in their sleep. Bill was silently preparing himself for another encounter with the President and wondering how her mood was. The previous evening had been a strange one, even for the two of them. True, he could count on one hand the number of times either of them had dropped in on the other completely unannounced, but she was usually pleased to see him. Glad for the opportunity to have a chat once business was dispensed with. Now she was acting like she couldn't get rid of him quickly enough.

He was so immersed in his own thoughts, cursing the inner machinations of women, that he almost missed it when Saul started talking.

"That new batch of nuggets, most of them look bright." the XO remarked, more of an excuse to start a conversation than anything else. "Apollo said he had to turn a few away because they were too young."

"We can get them later on down the road." Bill replied, though his mind was still on his upcoming conference with Laura.

"Hear about the party Starbuck's spearheading for your son's first anniversary?" Saul asked after another moment of silence. Chuckling ironically, he added, "We should've let them beat the crap out of each other a long time ago."

That earned a snort from Bill. "It does seem to have resolved whatever issues the two of them had with each other." And thank the gods for that. It was almost like old times between Starbuck and Apollo. "Kara mentioned the idea a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't know it was still happening."

"Oh, it's happening." Saul replied. "I think Gaeta was at a planning session before his shift started. Said Kara was making some noise about getting the President involved, too."

Bill considered the possibility. "I think she'd be happy to help in whatever way she can, if she has the time."

"Yeah, it's nice you and she aren't getting the kids involved in this little tiff of yours." Saul's voice was heavily sarcastic.

It took a full ten seconds for his friend's words to sink in and he turned to glare at Saul. Tigh merely looked back at him, impervious to the Glare of Death the admiral had going at the moment. He for one was sick of whatever was going on between the admiral and the president. If Bill hadn't been so bullheaded weeks ago, he would have been in a better position to notice whatever the hell was going on with that equally bullheaded woman and nip it in the bud.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill asked, once it became apparent that Saul wasn't going to elaborate.

"Look, Admiral, I know she hasn't been logging much time around here lately and that might be partly my fault, but-"

"Your fault?" Bill asked, confused. If Laura had some sort of problem with Saul, this was the first he was hearing of it. And she was usually vocal on matters pertaining to relations among the leaders of the fleet. She had considered Saul one of those leaders for quite some time now.

Not that she had been all that vocal to him about much of anything lately.

Saul had the decency to look ashamed. "Right after we got back from New Caprica," he started, suddenly dropping his eyes from Bill's, "she tried to tell me how sorry she was. You know, about Ellen."

"Didn't go over too well?" Bill guessed.

Saul shook his head. "You should have seen the look on her face. I don't even remember what I said to her, but it must have been pretty bad. 'Course, I was probably drunk at the time."

"Probably a fair bet." Bill conceded. He was just glad Saul had gotten his act back together.

"Looked like I backhanded her, then shot her dog." Saul said. "I finally got around to apologizing a couple of weeks later. She said she understood, that it was far too soon when she approached me, but the thing that struck me were her eyes. I've never spent much time looking at her, but I've always that her eyes were pretty warm, inviting, you know, the kind of eyes you'd expect a kindergarten teacher to have."

Bill grunted. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with his XO. If Saul got him started on Laura's eyes, they'd be standing around the corridor keeping her waiting for another hour. Every flicker of her eyes was indicative of where she was, what kind of day she was having, and if he was lucky enough to catch her offguard when walking into a room, there was always a split second in which they practically glowed with a welcoming smile in them, right before she caught herself.

He hadn't seen much of that glow lately. He missed it.

Saul, however, had either completely missed his friend's complete loss of focus or was choosing to reserve comment. "They're pretty much dead, Bill." he said quietly. "She usually says something with her eyes. Now they're silent. Pretty remote, too."

"She's going through a bad patch." Bill remarked. "I think that whole… ugliness weeks back rattled her."

"Rattled most of us." Saul remarked. "The Vice-President was pretty shaken up when he called over here looking for you. What the hell did he keep you talking for an hour about, anyway?"

Bill shot him another glare and Saul knew the subject was not open for discussion.

"I don't think it's anything to alert the press about, Saul." he remarked. "We've kept her waiting far too long as it is." With that, he started off for the hangar deck.

"I never said anything about getting press involved." Saul shot back, following Bill's lead. "I don't think this is just a bad patch, Bill. Every time I've seen her since we got that damned Cylon baby onboard, she's been just a little colder, a little more distant, than the previous time. I can't believe you, of all people, haven't noticed!"

"Of course I've noticed, Saul!" Bill exploded, every single one of his frustrations from the past month rushing to the surface, overwhelming him with their intensity. "In case you haven't noticed, she hasn't exactly been making herself readily available to me ever since Zarek and I went over her head with that press conference to stop her from resigning!"

Saul waved it off, however. "She was about to do something asinine, just like you after we found Bulldog. She needed a boot up the ass. But that's not what did it, Bill. She's been like this since we almost nuked Apollo and Starbuck at the algae planet."

* * *

At around the same time in sickbay, Doc Cottle was starting to get antsy. He hadn't had a cigarette in twelve hours and he was about two more from going into some serious nicotine withdrawal. Even more infuriating to him, he had more frakking patients than he should. And there was another one on the way in. Mother frakkers.

He truly hated them all right now.

Abandoning the cigarette he had been contemplating for ten minutes, he stepped out of his office. He was surprised to see Sharon Agathon settling her daughter onto one of the beds.

Sighing in annoyance, he headed over to them.

"What can I do for you, Athena?" he asked.

"I had an appointment for Hera's check-up." she replied, stepping back. Cottle stepped in closer to regard the child carefully. Athena was right, dammit. She did have an appointment and he had completely forgotten about it.

"Let's see what we have here, then." He took out his stethoscope. If he recalled his time on that frakking cesspool known as New Caprica as well as he thought he did, this child who had been known as Isis for one year of her life had been fascinated by his stethoscope.

His memory was once again proven flawless as the child laughed and made a grab for it.

"Just a second there, little lady." He swatted gently at her hands, ignoring her giggles of protest. "Let me take care of business and then you can play with it for a minute, all right?" He paused as Hera stilled, almost as if she'd understood every word he'd said, and watched him silently as he went about his quick examination.

"I'd like to take some blood, just to make sure her immunizations are sticking." he said to Sharon. "Talk it over with Helo and get back to me."

"No, you may as well go ahead and do it." Athena replied, nodding and clearing her throat. "And I think I owe you a long overdue apology."

Cottle snorted before he could stop himself. An apology? Was she frakking with him? Everything the Cylons had done, were continuing to do, and she wanted to apologize to him for _that_? Then again, this was personal, between her and him. "How about we call it even and leave it at that?" he asked dryly.

Athena raised an eyebrow, surprise written all over her face. "I almost killed you."

"And I participated in a conspiracy to make you think your daughter was dead." Cottle replied, regarding her contemplatively. This wasn't exactly the way he pictured his day going. Frakking patients. "I probably got the better end of the deal," he remarked, "and if it's worth anything, I very nearly refused the President's request."

Athena's eyes darkened almost dangerously at the mention of Roslin and Cottle sighed again, suddenly very tired. He damn well knew he was still on shaky ground, having abused Athena's trust in him, so he refrained from commenting. Just barely.

"Why didn't you?" Sharon finally asked, playing with one of Hera's hands.

"I was going to." Cottle admitted, thinking longingly of the cigarette lying on his desk. Damn patients. "Then I got wind of some of the calls going into the wireless across the fleet." The memory of the venomous anger and hatred contained in some of those calls were enough to make his blood run cold, even to this day.

"What calls?" Sharon asked.

"Believe me, Athena, you're better off not knowing. The most benign of them called Roslin's judgment into question for not going through with the abortion like she had planned. People were questioning whether the Cylon blood that saved her was affecting the decisions she was making when all they had to do was take a look at the President's personal history to know she'd do whatever it took to keep a child, any child, from harm."

"Why would she do that for my baby?"

"She was a frakking kindergarten teacher before she became a politician!" Cottle snapped. "She loves children, Athena. Hera saved her life. There's nothing she wouldn't have done for her after that."

"Hey, Doc!" Apollo's voice suddenly interrupted the conversation. "One of the nuggets got burnt pretty badly out there!"

"Damn patients." Cottle grumbled, reaching to squeeze Athena's forearm. "Take up all my frakking time. Can't even slap your head on straight without one of them barging in on me. Excuse me. I'll let you know when Hera's blood tests come back."

"Thanks, Doc." Athena replied, stroking Hera's hair and contemplating what the doctor had just told her.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

It was unbearable.

And by it, she meant everything.

Laura paused in her pacing for a moment to look up at the clock on the wall of Chief Tyrol's office. She had been waiting here for almost an hour! She had landed on Galactica almost an hour and a half ago. Closing her eyes against the claustrophobic rumblings in her stomach, she wrapped her arms around herself and told herself to breathe.

_In. Out._

Her father had once told her that breathing deeply was the answer to every problem in the universe.

_In. Out._

**_Breathe deeply, count to ten, Laura. If that doesn't work, try it again._**

_In. Out._

Her father didn't know what he was talking about.

Bracing herself on the back of the chair she had been using, she looked longingly over at her briefcase. The relief she needed was right there. All she had to do was go over, open the briefcase, and take care of the pressure. Once or twice would do the trick until she could get the hell off this ship and return to her own. Looking out the slightly open door at the bustling deck crew, she briefly considered asking Cally where the nearest private facility was.

She quickly discarded the idea.

_In. Out._

She could control it while she was here. Once the meeting actually started, she knew it wouldn't take long at all. Colonel Tigh had been extremely considerate while writing up the report, posting short but detailed explanations where he thought she might need them. As a result, she didn't have many questions. She could get through this meeting without resorting to drastic measures.

_In. Out._

Her silent pep talk was brought to an end by the sound of cooing from the crib that had been wedged into the corner of the office. Drawn by the noises of Cally and Galen's son, Laura found herself moving over to the crib just in time to see him pull himself into a sitting position. Nicky looked around, blinking, and his face broke into a wide grin as his eyes fell on her. The pressure eased as she offered a hand to him. Nicky made a grab and cackled happily when he came up with her finger.

She smiled. "You've been working on your grip." she informed him quietly, bringing her other hand over to stroke his dark hair. His eyes followed her movement and he squealed excitedly, pointing at her bracelet. "Oh, you want the shiny?" she asked, pulling her sleeve up slightly and showing him her silver bracelet.

Laura let him play with the bracelet as she stroked his soft hair, sighing. "You're such a good boy for your mama and dad, aren't you?" she asked, dropping a kiss on the top of his head before straightening up. He squawked in protest and the icy stranglehold over her own heart eased a bit as he smiled up at her. There was total devotion, total trust, in that tiny face with his infinitely wondering eyes.

She knuckled away a tear she hadn't even been aware of. "Don't trust me, kid. I'll lead you to ruin."

She started to turn away, only to be stopped by another squeal, this one louder and more demanding. When Laura looked back, he had raised his arms and was waiting expectantly. Laura only hesitated a moment before leaning back in and picking him up. Letting out a shaky breath, she settled him against her chest, feeling him relax against her. His small hand fisted around the material of her suit jacket and as he laid his head on her shoulder with a small sigh, she suddenly felt as if the hollow emptiness in her wasn't quite so bad right now.

A lump formed in her throat as she swayed with him, moving her hand to support his head quietly. "You're such a happy little man, aren't you?" she murmured, gnawing furiously at her own lip. "Hold onto that and you'll be lucky. Your parents love you so much."

Nicky's head shifted on her shoulder and she moved her hand slightly to compensate, crooning softly. He sighed, a sound of utter contentment, and Laura sighed with him, sagging against the Chief's workbench. She'd need those facilities after all.

The quiet moment was broken in the worst way possible as the door on the opposite side of the room flew open and someone blew in, calling for the Chief. Every part of Laura shrank away when she realized who it was.

"Hey, Chief, there's a-"

Helo stopped in his tracks, a sneer of utter contempt appearing on his face as he realized who was in the Chief's office.

Laura straightened immediately, her arms tightening protectively around Nicky.

"Well, look who it is." he said coolly, though his eyes were virtual twin bonfires of anger. "C'mere, Nicky." He took the baby from Laura, ignoring Nicky's squeals of protest and settling him on his hip. "You're okay, see? I won't let her do anything." He then turned on Laura angrily. "What the frak do you think you're doing? Stealing one baby's not enough?"

Grinding her teeth together, Laura followed her father's advice one more time. "The Chief graciously offered me his office to prepare for a meeting with Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh. Nicholas woke up and since he didn't seem upset, I didn't see any point to interrupting his mother."

"Yeah, sure." Helo remarked. "It's easier when the parents aren't in the room, is it?"

For that, Laura had no answer. She looked away from him.

"Nothing to say?" Helo asked.

Laura looked him right in the eye then. "Anything I say to you right now is worthless." she replied. "I'm hardly in the habit of wasting my time."

"Try me." Helo challenged, shifting a suddenly fussy Nicky to his shoulder.

Laura sighed, clearing her throat. "I very much regret the pain my actions caused you and your wife. I made the best decision I could with the facts I had at my disposal-"

"Oh, save me that particular song and dance!" Helo exploded, startling Nicky. The baby began to strain his arms back towards Laura, finding his current guardian lacking. "Do you even know what happened to the woman you tricked into adopting my daughter?"

Sirens began to go off in Laura's head as her heart started beating faster. Shaking her head, she made a grab for her briefcase. Helo blocked her way, moving closer towards her. She backed away a step, her shoulders stiffening. This was one of Bill's men. Surely he wouldn't…

"Not interested?" Helo asked, his face twisting into a mocking grin. "One of the Boomer models told Sharon all about it. All about the woman who kept Hera in your school for you. You know she survived the exodus from New Caprica. Too bad no one bothered to make sure Maya… That was her name, right? Maya? Too bad no one bothered to make sure she made it to a ship."

Laura's stomach dropped as Helo's words set in. _Oh, lords. Not Maya. Please, merciful lords, not sweet, generous Maya._ Had she really left Maya to the Cylons? None of the men Anders had assigned to guard Maya and Hera had made it off the surface. Crossing her arms over her chest, Laura backed up even further, shaking her head even as her chest began to heave with gasps.

"Yeah, that's right." Helo took the advantage and followed her backwards. "Do you even care that you left this woman, who trusted you with her life, to face the Cylons and she didn't even know why? You didn't even tell her the danger her life was in because she took Hera."

"No," Laura twisted around, leaning on the table as the pain hit. Fingernails digging into her palms, she shook her head. It couldn't be. The gods wouldn't visit her sins on Maya, whose only sin was one of ignorance.

"The Cylons found her and Hera. She tried to stop them from taking Hera from her. You know, before they killed her, they told her everything." Helo snarled at her. "She died down on that planet, alone and forsaken. She probably cursed your name before they executed her."

"That is _enough!_"

Cally Tyrol fairly charged into the office, having overheard the last bit of Helo's tirade against the President. Half-shocked, she snatched a whining Nicky away from him, wheeling on him in a protective fury. "I told you before I don't want you, or your Cylon, or your Cylon baby anywhere near my son!" she snapped at him, snuggling her son close to her, rubbing his back and trying to soothe him.

"Oh, but you'll let a confessed kidnapper near him." Helo said sarcastically. "Great parenting there, Cally."

"Don't you even start with me, Helo." Cally challenged him. "And I don't care how nice your wife tries to be, there is no way my son is coming anywhere near your daughter!"

"Cally, please." Laura cut in. This situation was unacceptable. "I understand your reluctance, but Hera and Nicholas are the only two children who are remotely the same age on this ship. If you don't let them interact-"

"Shut up, you hypocritical bitch!" Helo advanced upon her menacingly, pointing at her. "You do not fight my daughter's battles for her!"

Before Laura even had a chance to flinch away from him, a pair of hands shot out, one grabbing Helo roughly by the neck and the other grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his back. Jack Reynolds dragged the officer back, away from his boss, and slammed him against the wall.

"You wanna try that again, Captain?" he hissed in Helo's ear. "Make one more move towards her and you'll regret it. I haven't had to fight a life and death fight since New Caprica and I'm just itching for one."

"Get your hands off me." Helo snarled, and then yelped as Jack's hold over his neck tightened.

"Walk out of here." Jack ordered him, marginally loosening his hold. "Walk out of here and do not approach her again. I'm warning you."

"You don't give me orders on this ship!" Helo shot back.

"Jack, let him go." Laura stepped up to the two men, laying her hand on Jack's arm. "Jack, please. Do you really believe he intended to harm me? Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh will be here any moment and I don't want to explain this scene to either of them."

"Madam President?" Chief Tyrol poked his head in the door, looking around. Seelix had alerted him to the raised voices in his office and he had high tailed it over in a hurry, out of concern for both his son and the President.

"A word of advice, Chief." Helo remarked as Jack shoved him away. "You might not want to leave your son alone with baby-stealers."

Silence reigned as he stormed off.

"Did he just say what I think he just said?" Tyrol asked as Cally came closer to him, still trying to calm Nicky. "Did he really go there?"

"Why shouldn't he?" Laura asked faintly, still reeling from the news about Maya.

Jack noted her shaken state and took her forearm gently. "Are you all right, ma'am?" he asked. "Should I have your meeting rescheduled?"

"Of course I'm all right." Laura snapped, yanking her arm away from his. Wrapping her arms around herself, she allowed herself a self-depracating shrug. "He didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Madam President, you should tell Admiral Adama about this." Cally put forth softly. "This isn't the first time you've had a run-in with that jackass."

"I can handle Captain Agathon." Laura replied. "The admiral isn't to be involved. And neither is Colonel Tigh."

"But-" Cally started to protest.

"Please respect my wishes, Cally." Laura interrupted her, then turned to the Chief. "Chief, would you please point me to the nearest facility? I'd like a moment to myself before seeing Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh."

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Almost as soon as the hatch had closed behind her, Laura sagged against the door, bending over. Her clenched fists slammed into her mouth, muffling the strangled sob that was trying to escape her lips. She reached blindly behind her, locking the hatch, before crumbling to the floor beside her briefcase. Clutching her hand to her heart, she gasped as an image of Maya, tearful and terrified, assaulted her. Had there been a firing squad? Had she known what was going to happen to her? Had they allowed her to hold Isis one last time before taking her away. 

Laura buried her head in her hands, shoulders heaving with silent, unspoken sobs. _My fault, this is all my fault. Maya is dead because of my actions._

No wonder Bill couldn't bear to look at her. Her sins had been laid out for everyone to see, her actions one step beyond the realm of any sort of decent behavior. Another encounter with Captain Agathon was precisely what she had hoped to avoid and so she had stayed away. She couldn't in good conscience bear to be the reason for more troubles with Bill's crew, not when she had nearly destroyed the trust they had all placed in him.

The thought of Bill brought the searing agony down just long enough for her to remember that she had a meeting. She had to calm down. She had to regain control. The one thing Bill and Saul probably wouldn't be able to stomach from her was tears and they had already started. Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a partial sob, she leaned her head against the hatch. She could feel nearly every inch of her face contorting, almost of its own volition and her mouth dropped open, unable to contain her soundless scream anymore.

_I can't, I can't, I can't. _

_That's what you always say, Laura. Calm yourself right the hell down NOW! You think you're going to get any sympathy out of anyone with your tears? You've brought every bit of torment on yourself. The Cylons were right, now frakking live with it and move on! _

She reached out with shaking hands and dragged her briefcase over to her. Unbuttoning her blouse, she paused for a moment to listen at the door. The hatch was locked, which meant there was a slim to nil chance of anyone barging in on her. She removed her blouse from her shoulder and rummaged around in her briefcase, finally coming up with the item she needed.

_Not long now, Laura. Just hang on another minute or so. The pressure will be relieved and you'll be fine._

She hissed as she dragged the pocketknife over her skin, her head falling back against the wall. Reaching out for the gauze she had taken to carrying with her, she pressed it against the shallow gash, applying enough pressure to stop the blood within a minute. A minute was all she needed. She quickly taped the gauze to her shoulder and sat for just a moment, breathing deeply.

_It's okay. You're all right. Let the pressure lift._

Taking another breath, she sighed in relief as icy numbness began to set in.

"Thank you." she murmured. "Thank you, gods."

* * *

"Hey, Starbuck!"

Kara looked up from her lunch (some sort of soupy mixture the galley, in alliance with that old frakker Cottle, had come up with) to see Lee heading towards her, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. This interested her. She only saw that smirk after he'd gotten laid and she knew for a fact Dualla was still in CIC. She shoved out a chair for him, which he gladly took.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, looking absolutely disgusted by her lunch.

"Algae broth." Kara replied, taking another spoonful. "They added some stuff to it. It's actually not half-bad. Well, compared to the protein bars we were choking down before. Don't knock it before you've tried it, CAG."

"We'd better find that hot fudge sundae planet of Tyrol's pretty soon." Apollo muttered, ignoring her attempts to try and get him to try it. "But that's not why I was looking for you. You blew out of the briefing before I had a chance to tell you the good news."

Of course she'd blown out of the briefing. She needed to round up some more co-conspirators for his party. And given the fact that it was a surprise, Kara really didn't want to give anything away.

"What good news?" she asked, only mildly interested. If she pretended to be listening to whatever it was he was about to say, it gave her time to come up with some asinine excuse as to why she didn't stick around the briefing room long enough to hear what he had to say about her latest batch of minions.

"The marines accepted Sam." Lee announced without preamble. "They'll need to brush him up on all the ins and outs of military protocol, but he's not an idiot. He'll learn fast."

"He'll be thrilled." Kara replied. "Thanks for putting that word in for him."

Lee shrugged. "I figured I owed him one. And now that we're all even and squared away and all that, I think we should throw him a party to celebrate."

Kara's stomach dropped.

**_FRAK!_**

"You really think that's a good idea?" she asked slowly. "We wouldn't want Sammy to start getting any ideas that he's special now, right?"

"I'm not talking about putting him in command his first time out." Lee remarked off-handedly. "Besides, it's been way too long since we've had something to celebrate around here. Things were still pretty screwed up when we managed to get the Eye of Jupiter off the algae planet without Dad blowing all of us up."

There was her opening. She was going to take it and run with it and make damn sure Lee frakking Adama was not going to ruin the first half-decent thing she was doing for him in gods-only-knew how long.

"Speaking of all that, what's up with the old man and the president?" she asked, leaning in so no one would overhear her. "When I met her Raptor a couple of hours ago, Reynolds was watching her like a hawk and she was late coming off the Raptor."

Lee shrugged. "I honestly don't know what's going on. I know the President's still fighting battles regarding Helo and Athena's daughter. I was talking to Tory a couple of days ago and there are still people calling for Hera's removal from Galactica."

"Crazy shit, that." Kara had also heard the wireless calls coming in. They had tapered off some, given the time that had passed, and the fleet seemed content now that they knew where their next meals were coming from for the foreseeable future. "Are they really giving her that hard a time?"

"Tory's turning off her telephone at night." Lee replied. "And the Quorum's putting pressure on the Vice-President to take a public stance."

"He did." Kara replied. "At the press conference with the Old Man."

Lee's face twisted into an ironic grin. "I think they want him to change his public stance."

"Frakking politicians." Kara growled. "How the frak does she put up with them every day?"

"She's good at it." Lee replied, clearly unconcerned. "So, look, about Sam and this party-"

"Look, Lee, I'll have to get back to you on that. Sam might not want a party." Gods damn it all to frakking hell and back!

"So we don't tell him it's for him. We just post a general get-together and when Sam gets there, BAM!" Lee smacked his hand on the table. "Hey, that's a good idea. A surprise party."

Starbuck felt like beating the crap out of him. Again.

* * *

Well, this had been unexpected.

Hands clasped behind his back, Saul found himself studying the inner confines of Chief Tyrol's office as he and Bill waited for the President. Reynolds, in a much darker mood than Tigh had come to associate with the man, had informed them that the President had needed a moment in the facilities. Not wanting to hear anymore on that particular subject, the admiral had waved him off with a grimace.

Saul couldn't help but notice that Jack looked as if he wanted to say something else, but it was almost as if there was some kind of invisible muzzle around his mouth.

"You all right, Reynolds?" he finally asked, gaining the attention of not only Reynolds himself, but of the admiral as well. "You look like you've got something on your mind."

Cursing himself for showing his hand, Jack deliberately schooled his face into something carefully bland and shrugged. "Just politics. Still gives me a headache."

Tigh chuckled, shaking his head. "Hazards of the job getting to you?" Needling Jack had become a favorite pastime down on New Caprica during the Occupation. He was harder to rile up than Zarek was and he could get away with a lot more with Jack than with Zarek these days.

Jack cracked a smile. "I ever want a vacation, I'll apply for your position, Colonel."

"Whoa, hey." Tigh pointed at him. "Now that was low, Reynolds. Bill, you think we should kick him off the ship?"

Bill wasn't listening, however. His attention had been drawn over to the far side of the hangar deck where Chief Tyrol was working on a Raptor. Or least he was making a valiant attempt to do so while his wife was making a valiant attempt to distract him. He watched as Cally's hands fluttered around almost angrily. He wasn't near close enough to hear what she was saying, but he could tell the Chief was getting frustrated.

The admiral watched as the Chief shook his head and started to move to the other side of the Raptor. Cally followed him, still speaking. It looked serious and normally the admiral wouldn't care, but they both had work to do.

"Jack, you've been here for a little while. What's going on with the Chief and Cally?"

Jack looked up from his ribbing session with the XO and glanced over to where the admiral was looking. His headache returned with a vengeance as Cally squawked in indignation and Galen, finally losing his patience, made a gesture that looked as if he was ordering her back to work. Shaking her head, Cally looked over at them. Her face brightened upon seeing the admiral and she started for them. Her forearm was immediately caught by Galen, who pulled her back gently, shaking his head.

_You know what the President said._

He could practically hear Galen saying it.

Jack relaxed somewhat. The President's secret was safe with the Chief and he would make sure Cally kept it safe.

Now all he had to do was arrange to have the admiral or his second-in-command be on hand the next time the President had a run-in with Agathon.

"Gentlemen."

All three men looked up to see the President walking briskly towards them, head held high, shoulders squared back.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting. Saul, it's good to see you." She shook Tigh's hand and then turned to face Bill, nodding curtly. "Admiral Adama."

Disappointed in the reception, Bill merely nodded back at her, ignoring Saul's pointed glance. _What the frak does he expect me to do? It's a rough patch, it's got to be._

He wasn't sure what he could do if it wasn't. If she'd only frakking _talk_ to him.

"If you'll come with us," he gestured for Tigh to take the lead and moved to take her forearm, only to freeze when she just barely blanched at the threat of a touch. He quickly moved to gesture ahead of him, "After you, Madam President."

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

This was an exercise in futility. 

Before New Caprica, Saul would have been pissed off at the lack of entertainment he was mourning between his CO and the President of the Colonies. At one time, interpreting every gesture, every word spoken, every look exchanged, would have seen him through one of these meetings. The promise of the sport involved in ribbing Bill later on (though he rarely did so) was more than worth the price of admission.

And the touches? He quickly put an end to that line of thought before he got even more pissed off. More often than not, the two had always been just over a hair's breath away from touching each other. He had seen the secret smiles exchanged, as if there was some code that only the two of them were privy to. And once he had finally noticed the touches, he had started counting them to amuse himself during particularly long, boring meetings. Around the time of the elections, the highest count had been twenty-three.

He missed that. A lot. Ever since that gods-be-damned Cylon baby had been thrown back into the mix, Adama had had a chip on his shoulder easily the size of Galactica herself and Roslin had been relegated to pre-Kobol status. The Old Man had simply refused to speak to her unless it was absolutely necessary, which was starting to piss him right the hell off. Bill wasn't the one who had to pretend he didn't hear the catch in her voice, nor the unnatural pauses during wireless briefings which signaled that she had stopped paying attention.

And then the sanctimonious bastard had simply gotten up one day and decided that Roslin had been well and truly put in her place. His attempt to return relations between the leadership had been met with stonewalling, not only from Roslin herself, but Tory Foster as well. For the past few days, Saul had been silently cheering the President in her decision to not roll over and accept whatever crumbs the Admiral deigned to throw her way. But looking at her now, he wondered if he should have forced some sort of face-to-face meeting before this. Laura looked terrible, worse than she had looked at any point during the Cylon occupation of New Caprica.

"Colonel?"

Crap. They were looking at him expectantly. He looked back at them, feeling the sting of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, my mind must have wandered. Could you repeat that?"

If Roslin was annoyed, she didn't show it. "I asked if you would consider sending a group of marines over to Colonial One at some point. The Quorum's decided to start putting together a civilian police force- actually reinstate the police force that had been in place before the Cylons found us on New Caprica- and the people we have will need assistance."

"I could have a group put together next week, with the Admiral's say-so." Saul replied, taking a closer look at her and deciding he was right on the money. She looked awful. Bill would probably kill him in his sleep for even being able to make the observation, but those lines under her eyes had not been there two weeks ago. And he had a feeling he knew why. "If you don't mind my poking my nose into areas that don't concern us, I had a conversation two days ago."

Laura's lips thinned even further. "I take it the conversation was with the Vice-President?"

"Yes." Tigh replied, looking her dead in the eye. He wasn't going to apologize for what he was about to say. "He said you could use some help with the Quorum."

"Why?" Bill asked, looking at the President. Concern and annoyance warred for dominance. He hadn't been hearing anything out of the ordinary lately. And what could have possessed Zarek to get Saul involved in political matters?

"Zarek says the Quorum and the fleet in general have been putting pressure on her to remove the Cylon baby from Galactica." Saul informed him.

Bill turned on Laura, his eyes blazing. How could she keep something like this from him? Not only was this a mess he was in part responsible for, but these were _his_ people being discussed in a public forum. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"Because it's not going to happen." Laura replied in clipped tones. Sensing that this meeting would not get back on course after that bombshell, she started to gather the folders. "The Vice-President and I both agree that removing Hera from Galactica would do more harm than good at this point. Relax, Admiral, I'm not about to commit the same crime twice."

"We're back to that, are we?" Bill demanded, standing up and moving around the table. "Laura, you know that all you have to do is tell them that I will not allow-"

"Well, that would cement my base of power in the fleet, hiding behind the Admiral's skirts." Laura snapped viciously. "Either that, or apologize for not being able to control Galactica's Old Man. Yes, that's a brilliant idea for dealing with the Quorum. Telling them they can't do something. Thank you so much for the easy way out, Admiral."

"The fact remains that this is a military matter." Saul said when it became apparent that Bill had no comeback. In fact, looking at him, Saul was surprised to see a small measure of hurt in the admiral's eyes that was quickly masked with frustration at the way the President was acting.

"I'm currently working on getting that through their thick heads, Saul." Laura replied, snapping her briefcase shut. "I'll let you know when hell freezes over, because that's exactly when the members of the Quorum will start taking my word for anything again. Good day, gentlemen. "

She strode briskly out of the office without a backward glance at either of them. Jack, whose mouth had dropped open at the vicious insult the President had hurled at her own self and snapped shut when she left the office without giving either of the other men in the room time to stand up themselves, quickly followed after her. As she moved, almost blindly, through the CIC, Agathon (when the hell had that frakhead appeared?) moved in front of her, causing her to stumble.

"My apologies, Madam President." he said, almost monotone, as he reached over to right her.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out at the viselike grip he had on her arm. Then the pressure was gone as Helo spotted her security right behind her, glaring at him in a damned good imitation of Admiral Adama.

She blinked several times and smiled at Helo, reaching out to pat his shoulder. "My apologies as well, Captain, I should have watched where I was going."

"Madam President?" Lieutenant Gaeta called from the watch station. "Excuse me." he signaled to the ensign standing in back of him and hurried over to where they were standing. "Excuse me, sorry. I don't mean to hold you up."

"That's perfectly all right, Lieutenant." Laura said, gritting her teeth. All she wanted to do was get the hell off this ship and back to her own. What was it with these people demanding her attention today, of all days? They had an admiral who could look after their needs far better than she ever could.

"I was wondering… It's just… Captain Thrace…" Gaeta let out a short breath, then inhaled again. "My apologies." He suddenly wondered why the hell he was so nervous. He was never nervous around the President, who always seemed to put almost everyone around her at ease. "Did Colonel Tigh have a chance to speak to you about…" he quickly whipped his head around to check, even though he knew that Dualla was gone by now, "the party to celebrate Major Adama and Lieutenant Dualla's first anniversary?"

"I'm afraid we didn't get around to that." Laura replied, regret seeping into her as she realized she had put this fine young man on edge. Deliberately softening her voice and trying to smile, she laid a hand on his shoulder. "But it does sound like a fine idea. We need something to celebrate."

"Captain Thrace wanted to know if you would like to be involved." Gaeta asked.

"Oh, I'm sure the young people can do just fine on their own." Laura replied. "I'll be happy to attend the event itself if I'm welcome-"

"Of course you'll be welcome!" Gaeta exclaimed, then colored upon realizing he had spoken out of turn. "Uh…"

"Mr. Gaeta, that's very good of you to say, but I have no desire to make any members of your crew uncomfortable with my presence. I do hope you'll let me know a few days ahead of time so I can send a card to Major Apollo and Lieutenant Dualla."

"But-"

"Mr. Gaeta."

Gaeta snapped to attention and Laura froze again at the sound of the admiral's voice.

"Yes, sir." Gaeta scurried away, puzzled by the short conversation he had had with the President. He hoped she would change her mind and as he retook his action station, weighed the positives and negatives of getting Starbuck involved in this one. She'd probably do something embarrassingly public and the fall-out would land squarely on his shoulders. It'd probably be better to talk to Galen and Cally. After all, they knew the President better than almost anyone in the crew.

Felix couldn't help himself a small chuckle as he recalled running into the Tyrols' tent one day to find Nicholas in the act of spitting up on the then-former President. He wasn't sure if he was more shocked to find her baby-sitting, that it was a regular occurrence, or that she hadn't been taken back to detention yet that week. His smile dimmed a bit at that last thought and he shook his head, returning his attention to his station, where it belonged.

"Colonel Tigh, you have the watch." Bill remarked. Grabbing Laura's arm, he steered her straight out of CIC.

He nearly slammed the hatch in Jack's face and probably would have broken his nose if Jack hadn't edged his way through at the last possible second. Mumbling an apology, he brought Laura around to face him.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" he demanded. "I had to find out in a meeting from my XO, who in turn found out from the Vice-President?"

"Let go of me." Laura's hand landed on his, which was still gripping her upper arm in an easy grip.

Eyes widening, Jack was at a loss. Even in the earliest days, he never even imagined that he might have to step in before an argument between the two of them became remotely physical.

"Answer my question." Bill commanded. "And lose the chip on your shoulder while you're at it."

Laura's eyes widened and her breath hitched just for a second before quickening. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Admiral?" she demanded.

"You're still sulking over what happened with Hera!" he accused. "You got caught, you were embarrassed, you decided to be a martyr, and how dare I stop you from doing it?"

"Let go!" Laura tried to pry his fingers from her arm.

"Admiral." Jack took an uncertain step forward.

"Bill, you're hurting me!" Laura gasped, wrenching her arm away from him with enough force to send her hurtling into the wall. Grabbing onto it for a second, her fingers clenched as the coldness in her chest was decimated by white hot pain. She became aware of hands on her, twisting her around and she was met by Bill's remorseful blue eyes.

"Gods, Laura, I'm sorry." His hands slid down her shoulders and arms to take both of her hands. "I didn't realize I was hurting you."

Praying to the gods that she wasn't shaking as badly as she felt she was, she removed her hands from his. "I'm going back to my ship." she said, clamping down ruthlessly on her bottom lip to keep it from shaking.

"Laura, please. Come back to my office, we'll talk about this rationally. I was surprised, that's all. I didn't even know you were still fighting this battle." Bill reached for her arm again.

"Admiral?"

Of all the timing in the galaxy, Starbuck had the worst. And this was the worst instance yet! Gritting his teeth and counting to five, he turned to face Kara. "Yes, Captain?"

"With your permission, I'll walk the President to her shuttle." Starbuck said, nearly bopping on her heels, so excited was she to get a moment to discuss the party with the President. She had finally managed to throw Lee off the trail when Hotdog had come into the mess, doing the worst possible imitation of a drunk as possible. She had high-tailed it out of the mess, finding Sam first. The plan of action they had come up with was crude but effective. They would let Lee have his little surprise for Sam. Only the real surprise would be on him.

She wondered what the President would think. She hadn't gotten to know Roslin as well as she would have liked to on New Caprica, but she thought Roslin was the type to enjoy the joke on Lee.

"Thank you, Captain." Laura stepped away from Bill. "Lieutenant Gaeta said you wanted to speak to me anyway." She wrapped an arm around the pilot's shoulder and started walking away.

Still unnerved by the display he had just seen, Jack started after them. He stopped as he passed in front of the admiral and looked at him.

Adama understood. "It won't happen again." he reassured the guard.

Jack nodded.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

"…well, you wouldn't believe the number of frakkin'- pardon the language, ma'am- you wouldn't believe the number of hoops I just jumped through in the past fifteen minutes trying to put that fire out. It's getting a little more complicated than not, but if you need an excuse to be at the party, you can ask Lee if you can be there to sort of, I don't know, maybe thank Sammy for making the choice to serve and protect the fleet? Though if the Old Man's gonna be there, you don't really need an excuse, I guess."

For the past five minutes, Starbuck had been talking mostly to alleviate the tension that seemed to travel between the President and her security guard. She had never seen Reynolds so on-edge, not even on Kobol with Zarek and Sharon around. She suddenly wondered if there was something going on that she wasn't aware of. She doubted it, but she had been known to miss some pretty obvious things.

As they approached the hangar deck, most of Starbuck's senses went on alert when she spotted most of the deck crew filing outside in a hurried manner. Most of them looked extremely unnerved and Starbuck knew this group of people. Nearly all of them had fought in the resistance and there wasn't much of anything left that could faze them.

"Everyone out! Everyone out!"

All three of them recognized Chief Tyrol's voice and as Starbuck skidded to a halt, unsure of what was going on or what she should do, Laura noticed that most of the people coming out of the hangar deck were crowding around the exit, almost as if they were waiting for someone else. Given the fact that she could hear the Chief's voice, but couldn't see him anywhere, she assumed it was Tyrol himself they were all waiting for.

"Stay here." Starbuck commanded Jack and the President, then broke into a jog. "Make a hole!" she shouted, barreling into the crowd at full speed. "Chief! Sit rep!"

It was Cally, however, who answered her. Biting her lip, yet remaining remarkably calm (probably due to the presence of her little boy in her arms), she turned to address Starbuck. "Chief found a bomb." she informed Kara softly, trying to calm an increasingly fussy Nicky. "It's okay, Daddy's coming out." She bounced him several times, trying to soothe his whining. Looking around at everyone else, she summoned every bit of authority she could muster and shouted, "You heard the Chief! Everyone start moving down the corridor!"

"Chief!" Starbuck roared, careening through the group of knuckledraggers scurrying along in an attempt to follow Cally's order. She made a grab for the nearest telephone. "Starbuck, get me CIC right now! Chief, get out of there! That's an order!"

"We lose the hangar deck, we lose every Viper we've got!" Tyrol's voice roared back at her. "Is everyone out?"

"Yes!" Cally called back immediately, in an attempt to reassure him. As badly as she wanted him in front of her right now, she knew that he'd be better able to concentrate on doing what needed to be done if he knew everyone else was safe.

She just wished that he was out here, safe and sound with the rest of them, and someone else was in there trying to diffuse the situation. Looking at her son in her arms, she couldn't even bring herself to feel a modicum of shame for her selfishness. Gulping down a few breaths of air, she tightened her arms around Nicky, praying to the gods to see Galen through this.

Without even realizing she was doing so, Laura was moving forward. Barely hearing Jack's squeak of protest, she laid her hands on Cally's shoulders, squeezing reassuringly. Cally looked back at her and though her eyes were terrified, when she spoke, her voice was calm.

"He's good." the specialist murmured, as if it was a mantra. "He's good."

"Yes, he is." Laura leaned in, dropping a kiss to Cally's forehead. "All those bombs he put together for the resistance? Of course he knows how to take them apart without getting anyone hurt." If anyone could see this crisis through to the best possible conclusion, it was Galen Tyrol.

"Madam President, you should-" Starbuck shut up abruptly as someone finally picked up the phone in CIC. "This is Starbuck. We've got a bomb down in the hangar deck. Everyone's been evacuated and Chief Tyrol's in there right now trying to disable it." She stopped and listened for a moment. "The President is right here." Then her eyes lit up. "I've got an idea!"

"Starbuck, what are you doing?" Seelix yelped as the blonde pilot shoved past her, running in a dead heat straight into the hangar deck. She quickly picked up the phone. "Actual? Specialist Seelix. Starbuck's pulling one of her crazy ass stunts again."

"Not on my watch." Laura declared, springing into action. Just barely evading Jack's attempt at a restraining grasp, she also broke through the crowd, jogging into the hangar deck as well as she could in the heels she was wearing. Starbuck was kneeling beside Tyrol, who was shaking his head and concentrating on what he was doing. With a sickening jolt, Laura realized that he was under the Raptor that had brought her to Galactica earlier and was supposed to take her back to Colonial One.

Galen saw her first and groaned. "Don't you people know you're supposed to _leave_ in the event of a bomb? Not come running."

"Come on, Chief, it's me." Starbuck slid under the Raptor with him. Her movements stilled when she caught sight of the President and Jack coming up behind her. "You think we can move this thing without blowing a hole in the ship?"

Galen turned to look at Starbuck suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?"

"One of the President's favorite pastimes." Starbuck replied. "We airlock the bomb."

A snort escaped Laura's nose before she could stop it. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jack couldn't help cracking a grin.

"I'd rather not send the Raptor out with it." Galen remarked, his eyes glazed with concentration. "I'd like to disable this thing outright, if I can."

"Is there anyone else who can do it?" Laura asked, thinking of Cally and Nicky waiting out in the hallway, then thought of the number on her whiteboard. Shivering at the severe blow losing the Chief would deal Galactica, and his family, she looked back at Jack, who understood perfectly. He licked his lips before stepping forward.

"Chief, I got it." he took his jacket off and unsnapped the buttons on his polo shirt. "Go to your wife and son. They're waiting for you."

"I can get this." Galen waved him off impatiently. "I just need a minute."

"That's unacceptable." Laura said firmly. "Chief, get out from under there and go out to Cally and Nicky. And I'm sure Sam's out there by now, Kara. Both of you, go. Now."

"And that goes for you too, Madam President." Jack remarked as he slid under the Raptor, placing his hands just over Galen's. "I got it, Chief, go."

"But-" Galen was still decidedly undecided, looking down at Jack, who was already completely focused on his work.

Laura nearly groaned. "All right, the two of you. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but I'm pulling the commander-in-chief card. As your President, I am issuing a direct order to both of you to get your asses out of here and clear that corridor! If this bomb goes off, I want the casualties limited to the people in this room."

"Ma'am!" Starbuck gasped, even as Tyrol paled. Laura knew him well and she knew that he would never refuse a direct order from the President.

"Kara, I think Admiral Adama would follow me to hell just to bitch me out if I allowed you to remain in here." Laura said coolly, settling herself on the deck with Jack. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Madam President, _Laura,_" Kara choked out, shaking her head, "The Old Man would happily _send_ me to hell with a hole between my eyes if I left you in here! And that's if Colonel Mother Frakking Tigh didn't get to me first."

"You're staying, you're going, I don't give a flying frak, just shut the hell up!" Jack exploded, grabbing Laura's hands. "And you and I will have a conversation later about my job description, Madam President. Now hold this and whatever the frak you do, don't drop it."

"I'm not going out of here and facing the Old Man!" Kara exclaimed stubbornly. Crazy she still was, but suicidal? Not anymore.

"Captain Thrace-" Laura started, only to be scared stiff as the device dropped into her waiting hands.

"We got it." Jack scrambled out from under the Raptor. "Easy, Madam President, we'll have that out of your hands in just a second. Chief, where's your closest airlock?"

"Shouldn't you, y'know, disable it before you airlock it?" Starbuck asked, her mouth going dry at the rapidly calming expression on the President's face, which froze again as the device began to beep.

"Frak!" Jack grabbed Laura's arm.

"Launch tube!" Galen shouted, pointing at the closest one they had, several feet away. "Put it in the launch tube and airlock it!"

"Chief, you go to the exit and tell us exactly what we need to do!" Laura ordered, allowing her guard to drag her over to the tube.

"Frak!" Galen had no choice but to stand and watch as the pair made their way over to the launch tube. "Okay, Jack, there's a manual override to the launch tube, the wall behind you! Before you even think about touching it, the President needs to place the bomb very carefully into the launch tube." He felt a small measure of trepidation as he thought of what the loss of a launch tube might do to their chances when the Cylons found them again, but decided that if a price had to paid at all in this business, this was surely a small one.

"I think it's starting to beep faster." Laura remarked, almost calmly surveying the device in her hands.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

_

* * *

_

_There were days when Vice-President Tom Zarek wondered exactly which lord of Kobol had possessed him to accept Laura Roslin's offer of the Vice-Presidency. And if he ever managed to answer that question, next he would wonder exactly what he had done to that particular lord to deserve this punishment. The Quorum had gathered once again, this time on the Astral Queen, for another discussion relating to the Cylon half-breed currently being housed on Galactica._

_Tuning out some of the voices around him, Tom took a good look at the woman standing in front of him at the podium, shuddering as he realized how close he had come to inheriting this Pandora's box. Roslin was simply standing there, her hands folded on the podium, listening quietly to the same damn thing she had been listening to for the past three weeks since Galactica had rejoined the Fleet with the Eye of Jupiter and the baby._

_Tom would rather have had Gaius Baltar and ten minutes in a locked room. That would have been a lot more fun than sitting through this ridiculous exercise again. Not only was it ridiculous and repetitive, but it was useless as well. Everyone was talking at once and no one was listening._

_Compared to Baltar's crimes, would blowing up a room full of fourteen people really be that bad?_

_Chuckling to himself and sobering with the realization of what Roslin would do to him if she could read his thoughts right now, he sat up straighter and started paying attention._

_"Madam President, I can't see why you refuse to understand that harboring that… that… thing onboard Galactica endangers the welfare of the entire fleet!" Sanne shouted, and Tom sighed again._

_"You should've put it, and its Cylon mother, out the damned airlock when you had the chance!"_

_"She's not a thing." Maddeningly, infuriatingly calm, Laura Roslin kept her own voice deliberately low enough to force the rest of the room to stop shouting in order to hear her. "She's a baby and she's half-human. You're all forgetting that."_

_Everyone erupted at that, swallowing whatever Laura was going to say next. Yes, this would be a hot topic well beyond the time that baby was old enough to vote._

_"As for her mother," Laura tried again as the eruption died down some, "I find it extremely sad that I have to remind all of you that, if not for Lieutenant Agathon's brave efforts during the rescue mission to New Caprica, none of us would be here right now. Admiral Adama has complete trust in her and I have complete faith in Admiral Adama's judgment."_

_"Forgive me, Madam President, but your faith in Admiral Adama is simply not good enough." Puasha stood up. "Let's not forget this is the man who allowed Baltar to bring us to our knees on New-"_

_"-not only that, but he left us to the Cylons for four months and when he showed back up, he managed to get the Pegasus destroyed."_

_"If I were all of you, and I am one of you," Laura said icily, "I would look around at where we are, recall that we're alive and relatively well and still finding our way to Earth. And after you recall that, remember the name of the man you have to thank for that."_

_"Adama got lucky!" Puasha protested. "If it wasn't for Pegasus, there'd be no one left alive right now!"_

_Everyone jumped as Laura's hand pounded on the podium._

_"Enough!" she roared, in the first genuine show of emotion most of them had seen out of her in days. "Admiral Adama could have simply cut his losses and left all of us on New Caprica to die! I will not stand in this room and listen to a bunch of spoiled children second-guess his decisions!"_

_"I'm not promoting drastic measures here, but we've all agreed that allowing the Cylon child to remain on Galactica would be disastrous for the entire fleet." Porter called out, having the decency to shoot an apologetic look towards the President and Vice-President._

_"The child will not be taken away from her parents a second time." Laura said firmly. _

_"So put all three of them in a frakking jail cell!" _

_Tom nearly groaned as he recognized his successor to the Quorum seat from Sagittaron made his presence known._

_"Absolutely out of the question. Captain Agathon was standing in as XO of the Galactica during the rescue mission to New Caprica. Lieutenant Agathon has already performed above and beyond her oath in the relatively short time since her commissioning. These are two brave, decent Colonial officers, both of whom have taken an oath to serve and protect this fleet. I will not even consider throwing people in jail cells for fear of what might happen in the future."_

_"I'm sorry to have to bring this up, Madam President, but I believe your judgment on this issue is clouded."_

_Every head in the room snapped around to look at the relatively new representative from Caprica. Wallace Grey had enough conscience in him to look uncomfortable, but he refused to back down under the cool gaze of the President and the death ray he was currently receiving from the Vice-President._

_'You frak-weasel,' Tom muttered to himself. He had seen enough back-stabbings in action to know that the one about to commence would be a back-stabbing of epic proportions. _

_"I'll hear what you have to say on the matter, Mr. Grey." Laura replied, gesturing to him to continue._

_"The Cylon child saved your life. It's only natural that you should have a vested interest in its welfare." Wally remarked. "And if I remember correctly, the woman you placed the child with helped you while you were teaching on New Caprica. You had regular contact with it."_

_"If you're asking me if I developed a genuine fondness for Hera, the answer is yes." Laura replied. Over the gasps in the crowd, she went on to say, "But that's hardly the reason I won't have her removed from Galactica. She has parents who love her and want her and who are in a better position to care for her than they were when she was removed from their care the first time."_

_

* * *

_

"Lock down all munitions lockers, now!" Tigh snarled at Helo, who was already reaching for the closest telephone to implement those orders. Looking over at Bill, whose face was set, the subtle lines brought into focus. "Admiral, I think we should-"

"Get on the wireless to the civilian ships in the vicinity." Bill ordered, almost reading his XO's mind. "Tell them to back away from this ship. If that bomb goes off down there-"

If that bomb goes off down there…

His own words hit him with almost the same force as two bullets had once upon a time. Without realizing it, Bill's free hand landed on his chest as an image filled his mind. Of grass and fresh air. Of controlled substances and the heady delight that came with the momentary freedom of being able to indulge.

Of a red shawl he had never seen before and hadn't seen since. Her muted giggles and her hand running comforting circles along his chest, dancing with the vague possibility of dipping lower. His determination to not give into his first urge, taking her right there on the ground by the river. Knowing that for their first time she deserved something better than a drunken, stoned frak in the chilly night air.

Had he known it would be his last chance, he would have frakked his noble intentions and then did the same thing to her.

An image of her cocked eyebrow and dismayed expression seeing the damage done to his face and, receiving his resignation, scrambling to soothe the damage done to his psyche and retrieve his self-confidence, knowing that he wouldn't have come to terms with his actions soon enough to do it himself.

Of the raw pain contained in her green eyes in the split second before she had turned away from him to run off with Starbuck.

His fist clenched on the console. Not like this.

"-knew just how long we have before that damn thing blows up!" Saul was shouting at Gaeta as Bill's focus returned to the matter at hand. "And tell whoever the hell you actually have on the phone down there to clear that corridor and make sure the President's one of the evacuees!"

"Yes, sir." Gaeta turned back to the phone, which he had been covering with his hand to consult with his superior. "Seelix, listen-"

"Starbuck still in there?" Tigh asked.

"Yes, sir. And Chief Tyrol." Gaeta replied, then went back to the phone. "And who else?"

The knot in Bill's stomach doubled in size as Gaeta's eyes went wide and the color bled out of his face. "What?" Gaeta demanded. "How did that happen?"

"Report, Mr. Gaeta." Saul ordered.

Blinking several times and staring at the phone as he hung up, Gaeta turned to the admiral and the XO, shaking his head. "Sir, the bomb's been defused and disposed of." he reported quietly.

The tension quickly leaked out of the room with his words. Saul relaxed enough to shoot a satisfied grin at Helo while sighs of relief and carefully muted whoops traveled around the room. Bill looked around, in time to see a visibly relieved Hoshi and Helo slapping each other's backs.

"'Atta girl, Starbuck." he remarked.

"Actually, sir, it wasn't Starbuck who defused the bomb." Gaeta reported. "It was President Roslin."

* * *

"Did you frakking **see** that?"

"I saw it, I'm not sure I believe it!"

"I didn't even know she knew how to diffuse bombs!"

"Way to go, ma'am."

Starbuck was the first to actually approach the President after the shockwaves of the incident slowly started to ebb off. Kara had never seen anything like what Laura had just pulled and was chagrined to realize that not only had she underestimated the President, but she had continued to underestimate the President even after she had proven to have balls of steel when necessary.

"Thank you, Captain." Laura accepted the handshake, still half-dazed, as people started to slowly file back into the hangar deck.

"Alright, I want every single Viper, every single Raptor, every shelf, compartment, nook, and cranny on this deck searched!" Chief Tyrol shouted, taking immediate charge of the situation. "If there are any more explosive devices around here, I'd like to find them before they detonate!"

"Hey, Chief, could your minions use some help?" Hotdog called as he came along with the crowd that was dispersing through the hangar deck. "Someone just tell me what to do and I'll do it." he added as he caught some of the wary glances being thrown his way.

His audience was not reassured.

"Aw, come on!" he complained. "One time I drop a couple of wrenches on someone's feet and I'm banned from the hangar deck for that?"

"Pretty ballsy move," Kara continued, ignoring the sudden chaos as Tyrol's deck crew sprang into action. "How did you know yanking every wire out of it wouldn't set the thing off before you had a chance to shove it in the tube?"

Laura wasn't sure if the expression she was gifting Starbuck with was an actual smile, because it had been a pretty damned long time since she had felt a real smile curving her lips, but this was closer than she had come in quite a while. She pondered the effects of adrenaline on one's mindset, because while she knew what the pilot was talking about, she didn't really recall all that much of what she had just done. She wasn't sure whether to be disturbed by that or not. "I don't remember if I ever actually heard Admiral Adama say this, or if the quote came to me secondhand, but I do believe that the admiral is quite fond of rolling hard sixes."

"I don't think this is what Admiral Adama has in my mind when he says that, ma'am." Jack remarked testily. Under his cool statement lay a tinge of white-hot anger that he was managing to mask. Just barely. He had no idea what his boss had been hoping to accomplish with that asinine move, but he would find out. He didn't give a damn whether it would be proper or not. He would get to the bottom of this if he had to find the nearest room with a lock and simply keep her in there until he had gotten some answers out of her.

And if that failed, there was always Admiral Adama to shake some sense into her.

Or perhaps Colonel Tigh, who was seeming more and more fond of the President lately, could talk it out of her.

Starbuck quickly glanced over at him in surprise at his tone. Her jaw dropped open and the expression on his face made her want to take a step back. A moment later, reason returned and she remembered that not only was it not her he was pissed at, but Kara was also reasonably sure she could take him in a street fight. But it was damned strange seeing Jack so pissed off.

* * *

Silence reigned in CIC for almost half a minute before Colonel Tigh recovered from his shock long enough to formulate a reply to Gaeta's bombshell. And even his reaction was something of a surprise to everyone.

"Didn't think she was paying attention when I was showing her how to put a bomb together," he mused thoughtfully, rubbing at his eye-patch.

"You did what?" Gaeta squawked, adding a hasty, "sir," when Tigh turned to glare at him.

"You were busy dropping things off for the Chief while I was teaching a bunch of people how to build bombs." Saul allowed carefully.

Gaeta shrugged.

"Son of a **frakking** bitch!"

Everyone's heads swiveled to face the source of that outburst, every single one of them disbelieving. Taking in the admiral's set jaw, the redness slowly spreading through his cheeks, his fists clenched on top of the table, most of those less courageous quickly turned away and went about their own work.

"I want her here." Bill hissed, turning his dreaded glare upon the XO. "Now."

His order was not to be followed with the usual speed and expediency, for in the very next moment, the ground suddenly rolled up underneath all of them, sending most of the officers flying into the nearest immovable object, or sprawling into the each other.

"Now what?" Helo groaned as he picked himself off Sergeant Hadrian, helping her to her feet with an apology.

"Sit rep!" Bill roared, sending everyone scrambling for information.

"Sir!" Dualla, having returned unnoticed in the middle of everything, waved him over to the communication grid. "There's been an explosion on Colonial One."

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

Exactly twenty-one minutes after the explosion was reported from Colonial One, President Roslin and her security arrived in Adama's office in the CIC. Ignoring the small pang of relief that came over her when she realized the office was full of people, Laura Roslin nonetheless resolved to herself that she would not be the last one out of there. She wouldn't be left standing this damned office for a second time.

Bill was aware the moment the President entered the room. He glanced at her over the desk while the voice on the phone continued on. He handed the phone off to Saul without a comment and approached Laura. He looked at her and she looked back at him for a mere moment before glancing away and taking in whatever was happening inside the room.

"Madam President," he pulled up right beside her, taking her arm, "please have a seat."

"I prefer to stand, Admiral, thank you."

_Damn it, woman!_

Bill suddenly wished he'd ordered the room cleared the moment she walked in so he could figure out why the hell this infuriating woman was being so difficult.

Never mind that it was one of the things he usually loved most about her.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but there was an explosion reported on Colonial One about twenty minutes ago." Bill informed her. Hearing the quick intake of breath from Reynolds, he glanced at him. Reynolds' hooded expression told him more than an outward reaction would have. Laura Roslin was indeed blessed, and so was Bill by extension, to have such a quick thinker responsible for her life.

Laura's lips parted marginally even as her heart constricted in on itself at the thought of her ship, the people on it… She quickly collected herself and opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them when Bill's words hit her. "Were there any other ships involved?" she asked after only a brief pause.

"We're counting the bomb you disabled in the hangar deck, so two ships were involved in this." Colonel Tigh reported as he replaced the telephone and joined them at Bill's side. "Zarek's on his way over. It was just Galactica and Colonial One."

"Just Galactica and Colonial One." Jack grumbled in a murmur. "That's like saying New Caprica was _just_ a mistake."

Laura turned to glare at him. She could do without his observations at the moment. "Casualties?" she asked, directing the question to Colonel Tigh, who was surprised to find her questions being asked of him. He quirked an eyebrow at Bill, whose expression had gone just as stony and blank as the President's.

Tigh cleared his throat, just barely refraining from rolling his eyes. _Rough patch, my ass._ "We've only just begun to round up preliminary reports. All the information we have is sketchy at best."

"Admiral!" Starbuck slammed into the room, rage apparent in her every movement. "The news just hit the wireless."

"Frak, that's all we need. We don't even know anything yet!" Saul exploded. "Tell me they haven't heard about the bomb on the Raptor."

"No, right now they're just reporting the Colonial One explosion." Starbuck replied, taking a look around the room. _"How the __**frak**__-"_

"You're dismissed, Starbuck." Bill interrupted. "Thank you."

Grumbling, the pilot turned on her heel and left the office, presumably on her way to lend a hand, any hand she could, to the rescue efforts underway to Colonial One.

"Casualties." Laura repeated, staring at the XO, who withered a bit under her cold glare.

"Madam President, we can't really-" he started.

"Ballpark it, Saul." she snapped. "I'm not a naïve little schoolteacher who can't handle hearing the number of people whose deaths are now on my head, so just frakking give me a damned ballpark figure! How many people did we lose?"

Everyone in the room looked up in surprise at the harsh words and the harsh manner in which it was delivered. Saul's mouth dropped open at the words and the flash of memory it evoked. Bill saw the look on Saul's face and immediately figured that she had managed to rattle the XO. Realizing the room had fallen silent, he immediately moved to salvage the situation.

"Madam President, we really can't say with any real certainty how many casualties there were until we receive preliminary reports from our search and rescue op." he informed her.

"Is there anything you can tell me?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"According to the pilot I spoke to," Lee replied, ignoring his father's silent protestations, "the bomb that caused the explosion was placed under your bed."

"Son of a frakking bitch." Jack hissed.

"I see." Laura seemed at a loss for words for a moment. Drawing herself up, she cocked an eyebrow at Apollo. "Rather direct, I'd say." She then turned back to Saul, an apology in her eyes. He nodded, tacitly accepting. "You said the Vice-President's on his way over?"

"The press is rounding themselves up as well." Helo reported. "Sounds like they're planning to get themselves over here as soon as they can."

"Oh, like hell." Saul grumbled.

"I'd like to make a statement. It's a good idea to get me in front of the press." Laura remarked. "If not, rumors will start circulating that I've been killed or injured."

"That's true," Jack remarked, mulling over the possibilities, "This trip over here this morning was off the radar. As far as anyone knew, the President would have been on Colonial One when that bomb went off."

"Which leads me to wonder which bomb was planted first." Helo mused.

Jack wondered sourly who the hell had asked Agathon for his input. A moment later, he was surprised when the President herself turned to the former XO.

"Do you believe it makes a difference which bomb was planted when, Captain Agathon?" she asked curiously.

"It might." Helo replied. "If the bomb on Colonial One was planted first, it could mean that the bomb underneath the Raptor wasn't planned."

"And if the bomb under the Raptor was planted first, then the bomb in the President's room could have been a back-up plan." Saul instantly picked up on the captain's line of reasoning.

* * *

"I still think this is a bad idea."

It had been nearly twenty minutes since the President had made her final decision to address the press onboard Galactica and it would take another twenty for the press to be gathered and wrangled into whichever corner of Galactica the XO decided was an appropriate place for a press conference. Jack knew that Colonel Tigh had very little patience for the press, and even less respect for them, which made him very glad that the XO had volunteered to stand in on the conference. Just in case things got too rowdy.

Before Laura could formulate a reply, sarcastic or otherwise (and at this point, it probably would have been the latter rather than the former), both of them were distracted from the conversation by a shout from halfway down the corridor.

"Madam President! Oh, excuse me!"

Jack grinned and just barely refrained from laughing as the young man speeding towards them nearly ran over two enlisted officers in his haste to reach the President. The sandy-haired young man, barely more than a boy and eerily reminiscent of a younger, less sure of himself Billy Kekeiya, took two bounding steps before skidding to a halt in front of them, nearly dropping the file folder he was carrying.

"Easy, Phillip," he remarked, eyeing him candidly. "The President's fine, see for yourself."

The sight of young Phillip Blake brought on Laura's first genuine smile of the day. While some of her staff had criticized her decision to bring the youngster into her fold after being reinstated to the Presidency, Phillip's abilities and natural aptitude to the position of Tory's assistant had quieted down most of the nay-saying. He had lost his sister, his only living relative, in the exodus from New Caprica and in hearing his story, a chord had been struck in Laura and so she had offered him a job. He had been even more unsure of himself when he had first started than he was now, but he was slowly coming into his own as Tory trusted him with more and more important matters.

"Phillip, you're hurt." She reached out to touch the small bruise on his forehead. "Have you been examined by a doctor?"

The answer she received was a sheepish look and a blush as he avoided her eyes.

"Actually, I didn't get this in the explosion." he admitted, embarrassed. "The pilot called a meeting for this morning and no one called me until five minutes after it started. I guess I was in too much of a hurry to get there and I almost knocked myself out when I tripped down the ladder."

Involuntarily, Laura let out a snort as her hand moved from Phillip's forehead to pat his shoulder. "Nothing is worth getting yourself injured over. Did Tory send you over?"

Phillip's eyes dimmed for a moment and he looked down at his feet, chewing his lip. "Well…" he remarked, stalling as he tried to find a way to tell her what had happened, "The pilots asked me to tell you that no one's been reported missing in the explosion. And there was only one person who was hurt seriously enough to warrant being transferred to Major Cottle's care here. Everyone else was being treated by the medics when I was leaving."

The President was silent for a moment as she did the math. If Tory had been able to bring this update to her, she would have. "Tory's in the sickbay right now?" she asked faintly. Reminding herself to fall to her knees later to thank the gods that the casualties hadn't been worse, she nonetheless had to wonder why, of all people, had it been Tory?

Of course, that explained why Zarek hadn't made his general nuisance of a presence known yet. He was probably in sickbay right now, sitting with her until she woke up.

"Tory was awake while we were on the Raptor." Phillip replied softly, glancing quickly from her to Jack, who nodded and smiled in encouragement. "She asked me to get this message to you. The Quorum's called a meeting on the Astral Queen and they require your presence."

"A simple request would have been more than enough to get me there," Laura mused as she took the file from his hand. "Thank you, Phillip. Will you be accompanying me to the Astral Queen?"

"Yes, ma'am. If you don't mind, ma'am."

"Then I suppose I ought to get this press conference over with before the Quorum starts thinking I'm avoiding them."

Jack cracked a smile and Phillip snorted before he could stop himself.

* * *

The press conference had not yet begun and it was already beginning to look like a strange one for several reasons, not the least of which that it had been called by the President and yet was being held on Galactica. But given the fact that Colonial One was currently being docked in Galactica's hangar deck for massive repairs, most of the press corps was graciously willing to let that go as actually out of the President's control.

The room was also crawling with marines, reminding every last one of them of another press conference that had taken place on Galactica, long before New Caprica. Most of them were dispersed through the crowd of reporters, at key positions all around the room. Some were standing at attention on and around the podium, which was empty at the moment as the press corps awaited the President's statement. Every single one of those marines looked ready to shoot the first person to make a wrong move, which only added to the murmured speculations already going on.

Of note to even the least observant in the crowd of reporters currently inhabiting the room was the absence of any senior Galactica officers, with the sole exception of Colonel Tigh. There had been a time, not too long ago, when President Roslin's regular escort to and from any of the sporadic public events taking place on Galactica was Admiral Adama himself. It had been weeks since the President of the Colonies and the Admiral of the Fleet had been seen anywhere in public together.

The scattered murmurings came to an abrupt end as the doors on the far side of the podium opened and Jack Reynolds entered, tossing a glare around the room before he had even fully entered it. Several journalists noted the sour expression on his face and wondered what it meant. Following Reynolds was Colonel Tigh himself, his own expression a blank mask. Following them and immediately stepping to the side, where he could observe but not be readily visible, was the President's aide. Everyone already knew that Tory Foster had been transferred to Galactica's sickbay due to the injuries she had received in the Colonial One explosion.

Everyone shot to their feet as the President entered the room. She took her place at the podium as the Vice-President followed her in, taking a surreptitious position beside Phillip Blake, who smiled at him.

"Good afternoon." The President greeted them smoothly. "I have a brief statement and then I'll answer whatever questions I can. There was an explosion on Colonial One an hour ago. According to what information we have been able to gather, it doesn't look as if there were any fatalities sustained in the explosion. The military investigation into the event has only just begun and on behalf of myself and the leaders of the investigation, I would like to request that speculation into the event be kept to a minimum. Your questions will be addressed as soon as we have enough information to answer them."

The reporters waited.

And waited.

That was it?

Taking a brief moment to compose herself, Laura pointed to the first hand that had shot up. "Yes, Playa."

The journalist in question stood up. "Madam President, do you believe this was an assassination attempt?"

Laura couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips as she considered the question. "I believe that it's one of many possibilities. However, I'm reluctant to assign a motive to an event that may have been a simple accident."

"Madam President, according to reports I've received, someone placed a bomb under your bed. It doesn't take a great leap of logic to assume that was what triggered the explosion."

"I also heard there was a bomb placed under the Raptor that was supposed to return you to Colonial One earlier today. Can you tell us anything about that?"

That question came from one of the tabloid reporters, who didn't even wait for an answer before following it up with, "And your trip over to Galactica this morning wasn't on your official itinerary. Were you summoned over here by Admiral Adama?"

"Admiral Adama requested an early meeting." Laura replied. "I had actually had to reschedule a meeting that was to have included the admiral, myself, and Colonel Tigh."

"So you don't think the admiral was calling you over to tell you about a plan to kill you?"

"I hardly think so." Laura replied. "Mr. McManus?"

"Madam President, I've been hearing reports that there's been an interest in testing the Cylon baby's blood for potential healing qualities for illnesses that we no longer have viable treatment options for, your fairly recent bout with breast cancer being one of them. Can we expect any sort of public announcement regarding these interests?"

_You miserable frak, how the hell did you find out about that?_ The ferocity of her own reaction to the question startled Laura and she realized that someone from within those meetings had to have been feeding the press. A cold chill settled into the pit of her stomach as she realized that at least one member of the Quorum was now playing hardball. If the entire fleet at large was privy to any of these meetings, and the fact that she had shut most of them down, she was in for yet another fight when she was still licking her wounds from the last one.

"Sometimes rumors are just rumors, Mr. McManus." she replied.

"But I also heard that you're shutting down any attempts to even discuss the Cylon baby."

"There's nothing to discuss with regards to Hera. I've made the decision that she should remain where she is, in the care of Captain and Lieutenant Agathon. They are her parents, after all."

"Pardon me for being so blunt, Madam President," Playa cut in, her clipped tones growing sarcastic, "but if that was all there was to it, you wouldn't have removed her from their care in the first place."

Briefly thanking the gods that there was _someone_ out there referring to Hera as a "she" and not as an "it," Laura nonetheless leveled Playa with an annoyed glare.

"Circumstances change." she replied carefully. "It's the way of things."

"That's not the only thing that's changed." The tabloid reporter somehow had gotten up on her chair to call as much attention to herself as she possibly could. "Madam President, are you really that intent on protecting the Cylon baby, or are you just trying to save face because Admiral Adama won't allow the government to interfere with his military?"

Tigh's head snapped up at that unexpected comment. _What the frak is this all about?_ Looking at Jack standing beside Laura, and Zarek and the kid Tory had sent over in her place on the other side of the room, the XO was even more disturbed to see the exact same expressions of weary resignation on all three of their faces. Obviously, this wasn't the first time this question had been asked of the President.

"If Hera was truly a danger to the welfare of this fleet, Admiral Adama would be the first to realize the implications of those dangers, whether it made life more difficult for his people or not."

"Madam President, that sounds suspiciously like ass-covering to me, if you'll excuse the language." Playa remarked. "Is there anything you can tell us about these alleged closed-door meetings about the Cylon baby?"

"Yes. They're over." Laura replied crisply, folding her hands on the podium to cover their shaking. "There will be no action taken."

"And was that your decision or Admiral Adama's?"

"It was a joint decision by the military and the civilian government."

"If the Quorum's still dragging its feet, how can it be a joint decision?"

"Madam President, is there anything you can tell us about anything we've asked that hasn't been approved by Admiral Adama beforehand?"

Her head swimming and cursing herself for having lost control of the situation, Laura looked down at the podium and then over at the Vice-President, who was already stepping forward, looking concerned.

"I can tell you that there has been a Quorum meeting called for this afternoon, and I will be in attendance." she said, feeling the unmistakable beginnings of a slow churn in her stomach.

"And if they ask for your resignation, due to the explosion on Colonial One? Do you believe that you are responsible for the explosion, due to your stance on the Cylon baby? And do you have any idea who's trying to kill you?"

"If I started with the list of people who most likely want me dead, we'll be here well into tomorrow. And that's only the people I come into daily contact with. As to the question of the explosion, listening to your speculation, I'm forced to admit that yes, I do feel responsible for the injuries on Colonial One, and if the Quorum wants my resignation, they're more than welcome to it!" Laura finally snapped.

Reacting immediately, the XO stepped forward. "That's it! This press conference is over! Get your asses back to the hangar bay and off this ship!"

Without a second glance to anyone, Laura stepped down from the podium and quickly walked out the way she had come, with both Jack and the Vice-President shadowing her and the aide a few steps behind them.

"What the hell was that?" Zarek demanded as soon as they had gotten to a relatively private nook in the corridor.

Laura leaned against the wall, her mind racing with the implications of what she had just done. She had let her temper get the better of her and now there were even bigger cans of worms to deal with. Running a hand through her hair, her eyes darting all over the place, she suddenly realized that she was about two seconds away from full-out hyperventilation.

"I need a moment."

"You need to figure out a way to fix what you just said in there!" Tom hissed.

"I said I need a moment!" Laura snarled, wheeling on him furiously. "Are you frakking deaf?"

* * *


End file.
